Introduction
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPPA, is critical to the healthcare industry. HIPAA compliance should be followed by healthcare providers, insurance companies, and hospitals. This will assist you in protecting sensitive and private patient information.
What is HIPAA Compliance?
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) mandates that business partners and covered entities preserve and secure Protected Health Information (PHI). “Keep people’s healthcare data private,” in legalese.
Protected Health Information (PHI) is information about your/my/health. everyone’s The stuff that HIPAA aims to preserve and keep private is known as PHI. The Safe Harbor Rule specifies which types of data must be removed in order to declassify PHI.
Individuals in the healthcare industry who utilize and have access to PHI are considered Covered entities. Doctors, nurses, and insurance firms are among them.
Individuals that work with a covered entity in a non-healthcare position are also responsible for HIPAA compliance as covered entities are known as Business Associates. Business associates include lawyers, accountants, administrators, and IT workers who work in the healthcare industry and have access to PHI.
We’ll go through a thorough HIPAA compliance checklist for 2022 in this post.
There’s no need to be concerned about HIPAA compliance. This guide will assist you in enhancing the security of your network. As a result, you don’t have to be concerned about HIPAA compliance.
HIPAA Complaince Checklist,2022:
1. HIPAA Compliance Privacy Rules:
The HIPAA Privacy Rule limits how electronically protected health information (ePHI) can be used and shared. The Privacy Rule, which has been in effect since 2003, applies to all healthcare organizations, health plan providers (including employers), healthcare clearinghouses, and, as of 2013, covered companies’ Business Associates.
The Privacy Rule mandates the implementation of suitable protections to protect the privacy of Personal Health Information. It also places restrictions on the use and publication of the information without the consent of the patient. The Rule also offers patients – or their designated representatives – rights to their health information, such as the opportunity to receive a copy of their records, study them, and seek corrections if required.
2. Risk Evaluation:
You should begin by laying a strong foundation. As a result, after learning the regulations, you should begin with a risk assessment. You must evaluate the risk associated with your electronic health record environment. It’s a good idea to hire a third party to do this evaluation. You will receive an accurate report as a result of this. If you’re dealing with a third party, you won’t have to worry about knowing everything there is to know about HIPAA compliance. Compliance with HIPAA can be time-consuming. They will assist you in saving a significant amount of time. As a result, a third-party risk assessment is recommended.
In most cases, the consultant will ask you to assess your overall security program. This will assist you in determining whether you are following HIPAA requirements correctly. It will also assist you in determining your level of preparation. You should be prepared to recover your data and systems in the event of a data breach. HIPAA compliance certificates can also be obtained from third-party organizations.
The following items will be included in this report:
- Risk evaluation will include a comparison of your present compliance and security posture to the required standards.
- It will provide risk management advice.
- It will include a road map outlining the objectives and procedures necessary to attain certification and compliance.
3. Rectify Risks:
During the risk assessment, you will discover several hazards. Make sure you’re doing everything you can to close the vulnerabilities in your security program right now.
A competent MSP can assist you with this. They can assist you in increasing your security level. You can seek their assistance on risk management.
MSPs with extensive experience in network security can assist you in implementing particular processes, standards, and policies to secure your network. They will assist you in putting in place important security controls and procedures. You do not need to hire a significant IT security team. They provide you with access to a vast staff of IT experts. As a result, you won’t have to be concerned about recruiting expenditures.
Make sure you’re employing the latest security technologies on the market to close the holes. Various security solutions are available to assist you in enhancing your IT security. You should also seek security solutions that can handle multi-cloud and premise situations.
You can, for example, automate asset discovery. This will assist you in classifying your assets into HIPAA classes. As a result, you’ll have no trouble managing your groups. Vulnerability scanners are widely accessible on the market. They’ll assist you in checking your network for flaws. These solutions can be integrated with ticketing systems. This will guarantee that you deal with the most important concerns first.
4. Protecting Right Data:
You should also be aware of the information you need to safeguard. This will guarantee that the appropriate privacy and security safeguards are in place. PHI is defined as individually identifiable health information under the HIPAA privacy rule. This information can be saved in any format.
You must locate all of the PHI records that you have on hand. Make certain you’re transferring them to a secure server. This is the most crucial stage since it will assist you in locating the data that you need to safeguard. After that, you may concentrate on safeguarding other data. You should be extremely cautious if you’re keeping medical record numbers or social security numbers. This information is commonly sought by attackers. As a result, you’ll be a prime target. To secure sensitive information, you should use the greatest data security solutions available.
5. Execute Monitoring:
In the event of a data breach, you must notify all parties that were engaged in the incident. This includes all third parties as well as patients. You can simplify this challenge by utilizing security management tools. It will assist you in automating breach monitoring. You will be able to detect and halt a breach fast as a result of this.
The majority of healthcare firms are migrating to the cloud. They will not need to invest in costly IT equipment as a result of this. If you’re transferring your apps and data to the cloud, make sure your cloud provider has strong threat detection capabilities. In a cloud environment, this will ensure that your data is protected.
Asset discovery solutions should be available from your cloud provider. Vulnerability assessment should be used to defend their network. Check to see if your cloud provider offers endpoint detection and response. All of this information may be found on a single dashboard provided by your cloud provider. This will aid you in recognizing and assessing risks more rapidly. You have the ability to respond rapidly to these risks.
Without context, intelligence may pose a slew of issues for your team. You should be able to comprehend all of the information provided by your cloud provider. As a result, you should think about working with an MSSP. You’ll get access to a huge staff of IT security experts. Your MSSP will assist you in the analysis of this information.
6. Hipaa Compliance Breach Notification Rule:
When a patient’s PHI is breached, the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule requires Covered Entities to inform them. If a breach of PHI affects more than 500 patients, the Breach Notification Rule requires organizations to quickly inform the Department of Health and Human Services and make a notice to the media.
Smaller breaches – those impacting less than 500 people – must also be reported using the OCR online site. Once the first investigation has been completed, these minor breach reports should be filed. These reports must be submitted just once a year, according to the OCR.
The following information should be included in breach notifications:
- The sorts of personal identifiers revealed, as well as the nature of the PHI involved.
- The unauthorised individual who gained access to or used the PHI, or to whom the information was disclosed (if known).
- Whether or whether the PHI was obtained or seen (if known).
- The degree to which the threat of harm has been reduced.
Breach notifications must be given without undue delay, and no later than 60 days after the breach is discovered. When alerting a patient of a breach, the Covered Entity must tell them what they should do to protect themselves from damage, as well as a brief summary of what the covered entity is doing to investigate the breach and the efforts taken so far to avoid future breaches and security events.
7. Be Aware Of Penanlities and Fines:
If you follow this checklist, you won’t have to be concerned about HIPAA-related fines or files. You should be aware, however, that these consequences exist. You should be aware of how these penalties work. Unintentional or intentional violations of PHI can result in penalties and fines.
There are current structures in this model:
- Tier 1 Violation: The covered entity was unaware of the breach in this case. If preventing the breach is impossible, it will fall under this category. Nonetheless, appropriate precautions were made to protect the PHI. In this category, the penalties will range from $100 to $500,000.
- Tier 2 Violation: The covered entity was aware of the infraction in this case. However, due to a number of factors, they were unable to avert it. Reasonable precautions were taken to secure the patient’s record. The penalties will range from $1000 and $50000.
- Tier 3 Violation: This will include all of the violations that occurred as a consequence of deliberate negligence. HIPAA compliance was not followed by the covered entity. The penalties for each infraction will range from $10000 to $50000.
- Tier 4 Violation: This is the most severe of the four categories. If you are willfully breaking all of the regulations, you should expect to be fined. The minimum penalties for each infringement is $50000, with no maximum limit.
The most significant step in avoiding fines and penalties is to prevent infractions from occurring in the first place. Make sure you understand what Reasonable Care is in your situation, and that your PHI is protected accordingly.
8. Meeting Transaction Standards:
The majority of hospitals will transmit PHI as part of their routine activities. HIPAA has established transaction rules for all covered companies as a result. This ensures that your PHI is protected throughout data transmission.
Eligibility, claim status, payment advice, premium payment, referrals, enrolling, and claims will all be part of the same procedure. During the data transaction, make sure you’re following the X12 Data Exchange Standard. This will assist you in securing your data transfers from hackers.
9. Keeping Up with HIPAA Changes:
HIPAA compliance is always evolving. It is constantly updated by the government. This is to guarantee that healthcare practitioners are always one step ahead of the criminals. You could already be doing all of the necessary cybersecurity precautions. You’re also prepared to cope with a data breach. Various HIPAA amendments, however, are set to take effect in 2022.
You should make sure you’re up to date on HIPAA regulations. HIPAA permitted patients to examine their PHI in person starting in 2021. Fee schedules should be available on your website. The maximum period for providing PHI has been reduced from one month to fifteen days.
It’s possible that you’ve already achieved HIPAA compliance. This, however, will not be the case unless your IT security plan improves over time. As a result, being up to date on the newest HIPAA developments is critical. Your IT security plan should be updated on a regular basis. You’ll be able to keep up with the attackers if you do this.
Conclusion:
The main aim of HIPAA is to ensure that customer and patient PHI will stay private. Businesses can use the rules defined in HIPAA for protecting their patient’s data. Most healthcare organizations think that HIPAA compliance is a daunting task. However, you can easily do it if you are following a step-by-step approach.
Working with an experienced HIPPA compliance partner to ensure compliance is a good idea. They will assist you in complying with HIPAA regulations. You don’t have to be concerned about knowing all of the HIPAA requirements. You only have to pay a set charge to your MSP provider. For hospitals, this is the most cost-effective option. A huge IT crew is not available to hospitals. As a result, safeguarding your healthcare network is tough. Working with a reputable MSP will solve this difficulty because they will already have access to a large IT staff.
